Cosmology & Stories

Our Connection With The Spiritual World

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Benki Piyãko will be talking about the spirits of the rainforest and how this relates to the very intense times of transition that humanity finds itself in.

Benki is what is termed an “Antaviari” in his culture, meaning a direct messenger of God. Thus, he began his initiations into being a “Pajé” or healer very early, under the tutelage of his grandfather, Samuel Piyako (who taught Mestre Irineu about Ayahuasca and opened the paths for him to start the Santo Daime Church).

Benki’s list of accomplishments are seemingly endless, beginning with healing thousands of people starting at 8 years old, up until now where he has planted over 2 million trees in deforested areas and was the recipient of the 2006 Ashoka Fellow, the 2013 Human Rights Award and 2017 United Nations Equator Award for efforts to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

Additionally, he created Yorenka Tasorentsi Center, the first-ever reforestation institute of its kind, with the support of The Boa Foundation, he secured 3000 acres of deforested land which he is reforesting and bringing animals near extinction back to population.

Content

1 section · 2 lessons

Welcome
Our Connection With The Spiritual World

The teacher

Benki

Benki Piyãko

Ashaninka · Brazil

Benki Piyãko is a globally recognized political and spiritual leader of the Ashaninka People. Mentored from a young age by his grandfather Samuel Piyãko, a revered Antaviari, a healer and messenger of the Ashaninka, Benki absorbed the profound knowledge of his people’s traditions, spirituality and medicinal plants. He is dedicated to sharing this ancestral wisdom and healing ways with the world. Benki Piyãko embarked on his journey of reforestation, community development and education at a young age within his Ashaninka community of Apiwtxa on the Amônia River in the Brazilian Amazon. Since the 1990s, Benki has collaborated with various institutions, non-profit organizations, global activists, and local indigenous and non-indigenous communities to restore degraded areas. Benki has planted 3 million trees, his work has inspired individuals and groups to strengthen their communities and build projects to protect water basins, rivers, lakes, forests, and the environment as a whole. Benki was honoured by the Brazilian government for his dedication to human rights in 2004; the Human Rights Award in Weimer, Germany in 2013; the Culture for Peace Award by the Chirac Foundation, in partnership with the Culture and Diversity Foundation in France in 2020; and the 43rd Niwano Peace Prize in Japan in 2026.

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